Former C9 pro Jakee announces retirement from competitive VALORANT
The former Cloud9 and collegiate player, Jake “jakee” Anderson has announced retirement from competitive VALORANT.
The youngster cited the taxing nature of the sport as the reason behind his decision.
Starting his career in 2021, Jakee jumped multiple T2-T3 rosters before ending up in the collegiate UST Esports. He also briefly played with NSIC.
He joined Cloud9 in March 2023 with Runi replacing Yay and Vanity. Despite the lack of expectations from the community, the new Cloud9 dominated VCT Americas League.
Jakee was the clutch/star anchor for the team and made a name for himself during his time on the roster.
Unfortunately, Cloud9 could not keep up with the pressure in the playoffs and were eliminated early. They failed to replicate their strong regular season performance in the LCQ, missing out on all the International Events of 2023.
Cloud9 decided to retain Xeppa and jakee for 2024, bringing in Oxy, Wippie and Vanity. The team’s Kickoff performance was disappointing and they made changes. Jakee along with Wippie was dropped before the start of the league split 1.
Today, Jakee wrote a heartfelt message explaining his decision to step down from competitive VALORANT.
"As time went on with the current roster I felt demotivated day in and day out to continue playing and once I was dropped I tried to blame everyone but myself on that team. I realized after C9 let me go, how taxing pursuing this was on my mental health."
He further cites the poor economic condition of esports as another factor that further solidified his decision to retire from competitive play.
With this, jakee joins players such as Rhyme who decided to go back to studying after playing in Tier 1 league. The list is much longer with multiple T2-T3 pros retiring from esports after a few short years.
Their decision is a testament to the scene's volatility, uncertainty and the toll a career in competitive esports take on a player's well being.
Featured Image Credits: Riot Games